Brussels, 07/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - "Excessively high prices restrict mobile usage while abroad. This hurts consumers, it hurts European industry, and it hurts Europe," says Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding. In a press release entitled 'I'd rather switch it off', the European Commission has published the results of a Eurobarometer poll of European citizens on using their mobile phones abroad. Mobile roaming charges continue to be very high in Europe and the overwhelming majority of EU citizens believe the EU should step in to make sure that prices for making and receiving calls on mobile phones when travelling in other EU countries are not substantially higher than those at home. European mobile phone users continue to pay between €4 and €6 for a four minute roamed call abroad, as shown by the European Commission's website on roaming prices, updated today. In some cases, roaming prices for such a call can exceed €12. Someone phoning Ireland from Malta will pay EUR 13.16 for four minutes, up from EUR 8.76 in March this year. This is the highest level but charges remain very high. Someone with a German mobile phone ringing from France will pay EUR 6.12 for four minutes and a UK subscriber phoning from Italy will pay up to EUR 8.91. Operators claim that the market will self-regulate in the near future and EU intervention would only restrict competition and market development, but the Commissioner commented: "Reducing roaming prices is not only a political responsibility of the European Commission, but can also be an interesting business model".
24,565 people from across the EU's 25 Member States responded to the Eurobarometer survey, which was conducted in September following the summer holiday period. The survey shows that 79% of respondents own a mobile phone (90% of young people), and that of these 44% have travelled to another EU country in the last 12 months for personal reasons. Far fewer actually use their cellphone abroad (with 68% of 15-24 year olds and 70% of students avoid using their cellphone abroad, with 81% giving the high roaming charges as the reason. High costs were a deterrent for people phoning from Spain in particular (82%), followed by Malta (85%), Austria (87%), Germany (87%), Slovakia (88%), Hungary (89%), Lithuania (89%), Portugal (90%), the Czech Republic (90%), Slovenia (94%) and Poland (94%). 15% of mobile users surveyed either choose not to take their phones on holiday at all or to switch them off completely. 21% use only text messages (SMS) while abroad. 59% say they would use their phones more when abroad if charges were lower, a view which is widespread in, for example, Finland (60%), France (61%), Denmark (63%), the United Kingdom (64%), Belgium (66%), Cyprus (67%), Poland (72%), Latvia (73%), Greece (74%), Luxembourg (75%) and Malta (78%). Around 43% of mobile users are still confused as to the prices they pay for making or receiving calls abroad. In this context, mobile phone users in Spain, Cyprus, Portugal and Greece appear to be the least informed about roaming charges. The European Commission is campaigning for greater price transparency and has updated its website on roaming prices, which was launched in October 2005 and last updated in March 2006. (http: //ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/roaming/index_en.htm) The Commission comments that faced with the threat of EU regulation, some mobile phone companies have begun to offer roaming packages for selected groups of customers. However, for the large majority of consumers that pay standard tariffs, there has been no real progress. On average, roaming prices are still four times higher than national mobile calls.
Commissioner Reding hopes that 2007 will see be a turning point for roaming charges though the adoption of a regulation unveiled on 12 July 2006. The draft legislation is currently under discussion at the European Parliament and by the Council of Ministers, who will be giving their opinion on 11 December at the Telecommunications Council. Two European Parliament rapporteurs are preparing a report which two EP committees might adopt in the spring in order for the regulation to come into force in the summer of next year, assuming the simplified decision-making procedure is used. Describing the most recent discussions at COREPER as highly constructive, Viviane Reding said that the Member States back her proposal and have not ruled out even tighter amendments to regulate the price of text messages, for example, which were not originally included in the draft regulation but which consumers want to see regulated. (il)